High-intelligence Not Unique To Humans, Is Due To Extended Childhood

[cjm]

This is terrifying. I just started reading Magicians of the Gods which details a global catastrophe around 10,800 BC...seems to be in line with this video. Sigh...

"A sequel to Hancock's Fingerprints of the Gods (1995), the book builds on the premise that a highly advanced "lost civilisation" operated in prehistory but was destroyed in a global catastrophe. Hancock seeks an explanation for his catastrophe in the controversial Younger Dryas impact hypothesis, suggesting that around 10,800 BC the fragments of a large comet struck the earth, causing widespread destruction, climate change, and sea-level rise. He then recounts that the survivors of this catastrophe, the titular "Magicians", dispersed across the world to pass on the knowledge of their lost civilisation. He links this to the construction of various ancient monuments, including Göbekli Tepe, Baalbek, and the Pyramids of Giza, which Hancock claims are much older than mainstream archaeologists say.[4]"

Funny you mention Hancock. I haven't read his work personally so take this with a grain of salt but Mathis did a short article suggesting that Hancock is misdirecting in key areas of his theory. For your edification: Graham Hancock Unmasks Himself. I'll shut up about this until I can argue about it. I still need to go through the Suspicious Observers Playlist. I find myself enjoying my job these days, work hours used to be my research time LOL.

 

[cjm]

I also have a self-formed theory about "Australoid" colonization of the Americas several millennia before the Native Americans. There is strong genetic evidence that Amazonian Natives have Australoid admixture, and that Denisovans were extremely advanced (Australoids are the only people with Denisovan ancestry).

Dude, speaking of synchronicity, I'm listening to this podcast Ologies (my girlfriend listens regularly, it's still a little too basic b*tch, no offense, for me for commit to checking it regularly) and the guest is an experimental archaeologist from Nevada that was talking about Atlatl's. Never heard of them before, I'm sure you have, but for those unaware, they are an ancient weapon technology similar to spears (which are actually abysmal for precise targeting due to the mechanics of throwing from the center of gravity and the rigidness of the spear, among other things) but more accurate than bow and arrows! Crazy! They have competitions, leagues, for people to compete against each other hitting insanely small targets from impossible distances. Ancient Europe abandoned the technology but it was used in North and South America up until relatively recently. I think he made specific mention of the Aztecs. But then I go over to Wikipedia and it's mentioned that the aborigines had a word for it!! Woomera. Oh, and craziest of all, the atlatl is powerful enough when thrown properly to pierce chainmail. Had to come upstairs to my office to post this, it was too good to wait til tomorrow.

 

[lvysaur]

Atlatl

Interesting, I didn't know Atlatls were used by Australians. I guess that could be another point of evidence, or it may have just been a common paleolithic tool if Europeans used it too.

 

[Broken man]

The biggest lie in evolution and anthropology is that humans are uniquely smart.

Rather, humans dominate the world because of precise language communication, which immortalizes ideas. Writing immortalizes them even further.

So a group of lucky and smart whales might impart some innovations (bubble net feeding) to their podmates, in similar fashion to a human. But, a human can impart this knowledge on his own, and much faster and more actively, rather than relying on chance to have all the other whales positioned in the correct way.

The truly human quality is precise language, which almost acts as a "silver bullet" all on its own. Plenty of other animals are smart, have long memories, larger brains, etc. Birds in particular have far more efficient brain architecture, we may be obsolete compared to them. However our "built up" power and capability prevents them from proceeding further. In a mass extinction, I would say birds would end up taking over the world, just like mammals did from reptiles, and humans did from Laurasian mammals.

Of course, the brain-enhancing benefits of neoteny and delayed maturation are well known.

I thought that Its ingenuity that makes humans better.

 

[Ableton]

I have wondered before if there are benefits to „artificially“ stimulate play.
I did for example start to make it a point to see my surroundings as a playground. When going for a walk I would throw around stones, knock on ***t to listen to the sounds it makes, ***t like that.
This is obviously nothing like being a child, but its definitely possible to get into it to a decent degree, and live/play in the moment.
I always found to be quite mentally stimulated after doing that (more so than if I just went for a „normal“ walk) but for some reason I stopped doing it